The Death Of The Trenches

The first of Sassoon poems “In an Underground Dressing Station” is about the pain and suffering there was during the time. There is a reason the author did not specify what country this man belonged to. This poem was about one person, but no matter what country they were fighting for, so many people went through this pain. The next poem “Battalion-Relief” also showed how even in these beautiful towns, they faced the terror of artillery and heard distant gun fire everywhere they marched. The soldiers were stuck in this extended nightmare with nothing to do but following order to their almost inevitable demise.

What was life in the trenches like? This is a question you might ask yourself after learning more about WW1 and its exploits. Soldiers did not have an easy life to live in the trenches and everyday just grew harder.

Terror, disease, long days, and cold nights are some of the best words to describe life in the trenches during the first World War. Offensive advancements were quickly met with standoffs, leaving soldiers living in dirt holes in the ground for months at a time. To overcome the stalemates brought on by trench warfare in WWI, technological advances were made, such as poison gas, tanks, and machine guns, that have changed warfare even to this day.

Thousands of young Europeans went to serve their country (draft) during the first world war and were met with death and destruction. In addition to having to witness comrades and friends being killed, they had to kill others which will undoubtedly change someone. It takes away your innocence to have to do and see things such as this. For those that survived these images haunted them for the rest of their lives changing their outlook on life and general disposition. Which such a large percent of the population having had such damaging effects it takes a toll on the entirety of Europe. Siegfried Sassoon, a British poet who fought during WWI, recounts his experience and the damaging effects of war. In Sassoon’s Suicide in the Trenches he writes about the effects of the war on the soldiers and the disillusionment people at home had about war. The first stanza of the poem has as cheerful tone. Sassoon writes “I knew a simple soldier boy,” choosing to use the word “boy” instead of man to put an emphasis on how young and youthful these soldiers were. There is a sharp change of tone between the first and second stanza in which Sassoon talks of the hardships of the trenches and has a an emphasis on winter. The boy who was spoken about in the first stanza as

Soldiers within the trenches would illustrate their despair by singing, “ We’re here because we’re here, we’re here because we’re here, we’re here because we’re here, we're here because we’re here.” World War 1 was ignited and many perceived it would be quick and easy. However, as trenches were dug, stalemate developed. The growing development of trench warfare was evident in the Western Front. As it revolutionized, the war slowed down, causing little victory, but high casualties within the Allies fighting in the Western Front- Britain, France, and the United States- as well as the Central Powers, consisting of Germany and Austria-Hungary. During World War 1, as trench warfare progressed, a system began to develop, new weaponry was introduced,

Firstly, living virtually underground was a dark, murky, often freezing and miserable living. The trenches were thick enough to hide a man's head toward sniper fire, so they were dug deep underground and dug by hand. Rains made the walkways a difficulty. Rats bred and spread infection at all times because all the men's meals were also below ground. Shells fell most commonly into the trenches, causing massive losses and the destruction of trench walls and the underground living quarters. Perhaps the cruellest features of Trench Warfare was at the start of a major battle when the troops were ordered 'Over The Top' to attack the opposing trenches. They had to advance through heavy automated machine gun fire and exploding shells, all through mazes

In my poem, “The Sandbox”, I decided to utilize a slightly sarcastic antiwar tone in order to convey both antiwar sentiment and the romantic illusions of war that many Europeans held before World War 1. To convey the antiwar message while analyzing the MAIN causes of World War 1, I depicted children in a sandbox fighting over new sand, makings toys to defend themselves, making strategic friendships, and thinking that they are superior to other children. When children fight, it is generally seen as negative, helping me to cast a negative light on the causes of World War 1 and use an antiwar tone. The actions of the children tie together; for example, after gaining new sand, the children build new toys to defend their sand and justify their

This text explored this concept through the issue of propaganda creating a false illusion which glorified and endorsed the idea of war. The propaganda manipulated many young boys hastening to participate in the war. The text emphasised the author’s negative perception of war through an insight into a young boy’s changing perspective from glorifying war to realising its full horror. In the first stanza, a positive perception on war was established through the use of emotive language such as ‘Joy’ ‘whistled’ and ‘grinned’. The first stanza established the original perception of war for the audience. The emotive language used in the second stanza ‘cowed… glum’ juxtapose with the first stanza. This emphasised the shifted perspective of the young soldiers, they are no long joyful, hopeful for they have experienced the horror of war. The harsh condition and the mental state of these young soldiers was represented through the symbolism of ‘winter trench’ in the second stanza. Winter represent death, loneliness or an end, and ‘trench’ represent somewhere filthy and confined. Sassoon used ‘winter trench’ to symbolise the harsh reality of the war, the depression of the young soldiers and their belief that they were confined and that there were nowhere out. Through the use of juxtaposition, emotive language and symbolism, the author

Throughout history, wars have been an important factor affecting many people’s lives. The two sonnets “Anthem for Doomed Youth” by Wilfred Owen and “Trench Duty” by Siegfried Sassoon are two tales inspired by their experiences fighting in WW1 and all the horrors that war made them experience. Both poets use different sonnet structures, yet convey quite similar messages. In addition, these poets develop powerful images and metaphors, but in subtly different ways. Sassoon and Owen use structure, imagery and metaphor to show his audience the horrors of war and also how unfortunate going to war is.

Of all the issues in society, none is more persuasive and destructive than war. War tears society apart by destroying cities, homes and much more. The war poem Anthem for doomed youth by Wilfred Owens This classic WWI poem concerns the death of soldiers. As often in war, WWI soldiers typically fought without knowing the real political reasons behind the conflict and went through things that civilians could not understand. This poem aims at the horrifying events that occurred World War 1. This certain genre of poetry containing horrific and very graphic imagery and content was known War poetry this poem retells the armed and sheer helplessness of wounded and terrified soldiers during the events of World War 1.

Reading these two poems gives two completely different views of the same thing. Going into battle is one of the most traumatic events on a mans life whether it is positive or negative. Sassoon emphasizes the brutality and horrid of the events taking place in the battle. The words he selectively uses describe the scenes

War, a slaughter of men that has gone on for hundreds & thousands of years. One of the most gruesome wars was WW1 which lasted for 4 years, 28 Jul. 1914 – 11 Nov. 1918. In this devastating war, the total number of casualties includes about 11 million military personnel and about 7 million civilians. Many of those soldiers were young men. The poem “Suicide in the trenches” written by Siegfried Sassoon tells what the harsh trenches had being like and how many soldiers became depressed. Sassoon was an officer who earned a military cross after carrying a wounded solider through enemy’s crossfire. He fought in many battles till 1917 where he would then have to leave the war due to Shellshock. Sassoon criticized the political leaders who sent young men off to die in huge battles that seemed pointless and while Sassoon was in Hospital he opposed the war by writing many poems including “Does it Matter”, “The Hero’ and arguably the most tragic poem, “Suicide in the Trenches”.

World War I changed society in many ways. It changed expectations; everyone worked, including children. Teenagers felt anxiety, a fear of being killed, the panic of killing someone—the true horror of the Great War. “I can’t live normally anymore. I can’t hold a job. I sleep all day. I am unable to make orders. It is all due to the war. It destroyed me. I wish I could go back and change what I have done.” (Ousseimi, back cover). During World War 1, teenagers tested their capacity for bravery and challenged the limits of human survival, both physically and mentally. The roles they took, their experiences at the battlefield, would forever change their lives. An example of a story of children in the war is Private Peaceful by Michael Morpurgo. The story is about Thomas peaceful, he is alone in his

Oodles of poems explore different aspects of the violent theme of conflict. Carol Ann Duffy’s ‘War Photographer,’ Chinua Achebe’s ‘A Mother in a Refugee Camp’ and Louis MacNeice’s ‘Prayer Before Birth’ portray conflict through the disasters of warfare. In an akin way, the poem ‘Disabled’ by Wilfred Owen displays a youngster whose limbs were lost in the battlefield and is now waiting for death. ‘Piano’ by D. H. Lawrence is another poem which depicts a man’s reminiscence of his mother, who might’ve died due to some form of conflict. Similar to ‘A Mother In A Refugee Camp’ is W. H. Auden’s ‘Refugee Blues,’ both successfully displaying the arduous lives of refugees. Therefore, I will be analyzing the theme of conflict as well as comparing the above mentioned poems in this essay.

With WWI came a generation of young men that were lost forever, regardless if they exited in a coffin. In Erich Maria Remarque’s landmark novel “All Quiet on the Western Front”, he illustrates the everyday hell soldier’s face fishing in the battlefields of WWI. The novel, Paul Baumer, is a foot soldier fighting for the German army; he shares a first-hand account of the war’s atrocities on himself and his comrades in arms. In the novel, “All Quiet on the Western Front” by Erich Maria Remarque, the author reveals the horrifying yet calmness between the main characters of the story, and his relationship to the first industrialized war between Germany and others through the use of a variety of literary elements to emphasize the impact of the war on young men as well as employing imagery to appeal to the readers senses to illustrate how the war changed boys into men of the lost generation.